McCaffery: From beginning to end, Kelly's offense has had some amazing results

Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, left, celebrates his touchdown run with offensive tackle Lane Johnson against the Bears during the first quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles started the season 15 games ago in a hurry to make an impression, and they haven’t stopped. (Times Staff / ERIC HARTLINE)

PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles ran 53 plays in the first half of their first game, most of them successful, three for touchdowns, all with a message, each with a question.

The message: They had a special offense, an historic offense, a division-championship offense … for one night.

The question: Could they do it again?

That was 16 weeks ago, enough time for the beginners’ luck to run out, enough time for the rest of the NFL to catch up to Chip Kelly’s hurry-up ways, misdirections and satisfying pass-run ratios. That was in early September, not late December. That was when Kelly was still something of a novelty, not yet a Coach of the Year candidate and a strong one.

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And then came the other night, in the Linc, against the division-championship-minded Chicago Bears, on national TV again. And then came 54 Eagles points, 52 from their offense, every one proof that whatever it is that Kelly has been able to do, it has not been by accident.

Run an offense like that — a jaw-dropping display of execution — in September, it’s one thing.

Run an offense like that — a remarkable demonstration of efficiency — in December, it’s another.

Run an offense like that — spectacular — in both, it’s a sign of a championship contender.

Kelly was quizzed about that Monday at his day-after press briefing, about what he has learned with one regular-season game left in his first NFL head-coaching season. Maybe the better question was how and why the rest of the league’s coaches have not learned enough about him.

“I think I learn lessons every single day, but I don’t look at one as harder than another,” Kelly said. “I think every day there’s things that come up that you’ve got to kind of problem-solve, but I think we as a staff kind of embrace that. ‘How do we handle this?’ and ‘What’s our answer here?’ And then sometimes if we don’t have the answer, then it’s, ‘Let’s go back to the drawing board and start it again.’ But I think we kind of embrace that mindset, so we don’t look at anything as hard, but we look at it as every day we can learn from what we’re doing.”

The Eagles have had troubles — a mess in Denver, two consecutive home games without being able to score more than seven points, a stumble two weeks ago in Minnesota. But Sunday, they will play Dallas for the division championship. They have the leading offense in the NFC, the second best in football behind the Broncos. LeSean McCoy leads the league in rushing. Nick Foles is third in quarterback rating. Riley Cooper has emerged as a go-to NFL receiver. Multiple tight ends contribute.

The Birds have been healthy along the offensive line, which helped, a blessing they did not enjoy last season. The NFC East is soft. Insert any other qualifiers here. But to so thrive in September with one quarterback, and to do it in December with another, is an indication that they should be able to score Sunday night in what realistically could be termed as Foles’ first real important test.

“We’ve been the type of team — every single one of us, players and coaches — that works hard each day,” guard Evan Mathis said. “We learn from what we do well, we learn from our mistakes, and we take a lot from those experiences.”

The Eagles’ season has been an experience, from that 53-play first half in Washington to the 54-point outburst against the Bears. By now, nothing they achieve can be considered a surprise.

“You never know what is going to happen,” linebacker Trent Cole said. “All you can do is go win games, and at the end, go see where you are at. Coach Chip has always told us to take every game one by one. When the game against Dallas is over with, we will see where we are at.”

They could find themselves in the playoffs, with a home game, three victories from a Super Bowl, four from ending that 0-for-53 thing. They have the offense to make it happen. They have had it for months.